Crimson Anomaly

What Iris drew from the well wasn’t water. Dark red sludge spilled over the sides of the bucket, staining the rope and wood a deep scarlet.

She had expected this.

She plunged a hand into the overflowing bucket. The warmth and thickness of the liquid made her gag, but her fingers found what they were looking for, and she pulled it out and held it up to the warning sunlight. A black crystal. A crack nearly split it into two, but the value was undeniable.

She turned away from the well that lay at the center of the village. The sun cast long shadows across blackened grass that crunched beneath her feet. Pale eyes peered at her from behind open shutters and through cracked doors. The clack of gnashing teeth acted as a warning to make it back to sanctuary before nightfall.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she hurried through the village, a pit of terror welling up in her stomach with each step. Sure, she had Marrows to spare, but was it enough to take on a whole C-tier anomaly by herself?

Just as she reached the edge of the anomalous zone, a door slammed open. Eyes too large for a human or animal stared back at her in the entrance, pupils dilated into large, black voids. Circular rows of teeth appeared in the doorway as the ink-black Widemaw crawled out into the waning sunlight. Its flesh sizzled.

Iris shoved the crystal into a pocket and reached into her bag of Marrows. She produced one of the smooth, palm-sized stones and crushed it with a squeeze of her hand. Some of the released energy dissipated into the open air—sloppy work—but the rest of it filled her with power.

She faced her palm toward the slithering Widemaw and squeezed her eyes shut. A bad habit. A wave of invisible kinetic force ruptured the air in front of her, blasting the house away along with the creature. She opened her eyes, noted the destruction for a moment with a mix of pride and fear, then took off into a sprint. A weight lifted from her shoulders as she crossed the invisible threshold where the rotten black grass ended and the normal, healthy green took over.

In the distance, the towers of the sanctuary loomed, massive constructions of heavy stone blocks rising above the treeline.

By the time Iris made it, the sun had fallen behind the horizon, plummeting the world into darkness. She’d sprinted half the distance and spent the latter half trudging along, exhausted, sweat dripping down her face.

A tall stone wall surrounded the sanctuary. She looked up as a guardsman atop the wall passed by without regarding her with so much as a glance.

“Hail!” she yelled and the gate-guard pivoted. “Open the gate!”

“Open the gate!” the guard repeated, voice booming and echoing into the night.

A long pause followed the yell before the gate rose, wood creaking. She glanced behind her as the gate opened, half expecting an army of Widemaws to charge in from the forest. It was only her paranoia. She turned and trudged through the open gate, legs burning.

The sanctuary was an impressive structure. Built with only the finest stone bricks and sturdy timber, with four lookout towers that rose far beyond the main structure, the building reminded Iris of a cathedral.

The cold silence of the forest vanished, replaced by a wall of heat and noise as she pushed through the heavy leather draft-curtains into the sanctuary’s main hall.

The interior was a sprawling vertical city, packed with vendor stalls selling goods, equipment, and food. Rough wooden scaffolding clung to the support pillars, granting a sense of dizzying verticality. A familiar labyrinth of kitchens, taverns, training zones, and much more packed the large space, leaving nothing wasted.

What interested Iris at the moment was what was at the far back, down the central spiral staircase where the maze-like city resembled a monastery even more. Below the sanctuary was a space dedicated to trading in anomalous goods, such as the crystal that bounced around in her pocket as she walked.

As she made her way down the wide spiral staircase, the overpowering smell of burning incense made her nose wrinkle. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell by any means—in fact it was quite welcome, as the alternative was far worse. Anomalous artifacts carried with them the smell of copper that became nauseating after a short time.

Heavy columns supported the low vaulted ceilings of the basement. Tallow candles placed in rows cast flickering shadows along the uneven stone walls and floor. Thick velvet tapestries hung from the arches in the ceiling, dampening the echo of footsteps. Iris could almost hear her own heartbeat through the oppressive silence.

The merchants stood behind brass-bound counters; brass stopped much of the residual magic energy that leaked from anomalous artifacts. Iris approached the counter of a gaunt, robed man. Without a word, she reached into her pocket and placed the black crystal onto a heavy brass plate between them. The crack down its center caught the candle flame, glinting like dark glass.

The man lifted the crystal with a bare, violet-stained hand and observed it for a moment. His voice was soft yet strained like the skin stretched tight against his face—the magic he’d handled bare-handed had surely taken its toll.

“C-tier artifact. Fractured core.” His nose twitched. “Lucky it didn’t shatter. I can give you three Marrows for it. Four if you don’t care that two of them are light on charge.”

Iris scoffed, a grimace crossing her face. “Five,” she said, leaning against the counter. “Full charge. There was a Widemaw. Aberrant.”

The man furrowed his brow and sat in silence for a moment. He disappeared into the back of the stall through a hanging rag. Iris waited, tapping her fingers against the brass plate on the counter. The curtains spread apart and a tall woman with stilt-thin legs appeared, too well-dressed for having come from a tent made of old torn textiles and clothing. A purple wide-brimmed hat sat atop her head, locks of blonde hair poking out from beneath the brim.

“An Aberrant Widemaw,” she said, contemplating the words. “Did you kill it?”

“No,” Iris said without a second thought. “Well, I don’t think so.”

The woman leaned over the counter, levelling herself with Iris. “Surely you know,” she whispered. “What lies at the heart of an Aberrant Widemaw?”

Iris shook her head. “Quit talking around the subject. What is it?”

The woman leaned in close enough for Iris to smell alcohol on her breath. “More Marrows than you can carry. And that’s just the start.” She smiled. “That look on your face tells me you’re intrigued. Well, better hurry along, now, before someone else claims the loot.”

“What about my crystal? I’ll take just four Marrows with information like that.”

“Good girl,” the woman said before straightening back up. She seemed taller than before.

The gaunt man reappeared as if summoned from the shadows, carrying a dirty silk bag heavy with Marrows.

Iris swiped up the bag and stuffed it with the rest of the Marrows. “I’ll be off, then. Pleasure doing business.”

She turned on her heel and wove her way back toward the central spiral staircase, the weight of the Marrows bouncing comfortably against her hip. Her mind was already running through calculations—how many charges she could afford to waste, the quickest route back to the anomaly, how deep to cut to reach the heart.

“Iris! Hold up!”

A hand caught her shoulder, pulling her out of her head. She spun, her hand reflexively hovering near her pouch before she recognized the face under the flickering tallow light.

It was Kael. He was breathless, carrying a heavy gold lantern in one hand and a notched spear slung over his shoulder. Dust from the upper levels still clung to his clothes.

“I thought that was you,” he said, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I saw you sprinting through the gates like the sky was falling. Headed back out again?”

Iris regarded him with a smile. “Kael,” she said. “I just heard some wonderful news. Wanna hear?” She whispered the secret into Kael’s ear.

“Sounds dangerous,” Kael said. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“I’m confident enough. The worst that can happen is that I come back a bit Marrow-poor. Don’t worry, I’ll leave before I’m out. If it lives that long.” She smirked and spun on her heel. “I’ll be seeing you,” she said with a wave. She wasted no time making her way back upstairs.

Quickly, quickly, the word repeated in her mind as her feet turned to a hurried blur. What’s the quickest way back?

An idea popped into her head. A bad one.

She patted the newly filled silk bag at her waist. The heavy thud of Marrows against her hip was intoxicating—enough juice to make a leap that would kill anyone else. She broke into a sprint toward the eastern spiral. Making her way to the entrance of the sanctuary, she took a sharp right turn at the entrance where a clearing revealed the entrance to the tower. A winding staircase took her up, far above the main structure.

The view from atop the tower lay out in front of her like an oil painting, the cloudless sky revealing a clear view of the stars. In the distance, the C-tier anomaly she’d run from appeared as a dark blotch on the horizon. The air shimmered slightly in an area around the village, forming a bubble like an unpopped blister. It hadn’t burst yet—that was a good sign.

Iris scrambled up onto the battlements and peeked down over the edge. She regretted it immediately as her stomach turned. With a shaking hand, she opened her bag and counted her marrows. She had enough, she thought.

She pulled one out and squeezed her eyes shut. She concentrated, focusing on drawing out every bit of residual energy from the smooth stone before forming a fist, squeezing it to dust.

Without any more hesitation—not wanting to waste magic—she leapt from the tower.

The wind rushed past her as she fell and the ground came swiftly up to meet her—but she stuck out her palms and angled them behind herself.

Gentle.

A wave of pure kinetic energy burst from her palms. It propelled her up and forward in a long arc. She soared over the walls, above unsuspecting guards, toward the village. The trajectory was just right—it would land her at the edge of the village where she last saw the Aberrant.

The only problem was slowing down. It had to be perfect, else she would be nothing more than a ragdolling corpse upon slamming into the ground. As her short, black hair whipped in the wind, every foot she dropped made her stomach sink more. She wondered if she’d made a mistake as fear began to creep in.

Focus, she thought, swallowing the terror welling up in her stomach as she approached the edge of the anomaly. Panic flared in her chest as the canopy rushed up to swallow her. She pulled a second Marrow from her pouch. She squeezed—hard.

“Retrograde,” she hissed through gritted teeth, thrusting both palms straight down toward the approaching forest.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

An invisible, thunderous shockwave detonated beneath her, slamming against the air and the tree branches below. The sudden counter-force hit her like a wall, yanking her momentum to a halt mid-air.

Her eyes shot open just in time to crash through a tangle of pine needles and rotting branches, tumbling end-over-end through the air before slamming into the cracked dirt within the C-tier anomaly. She lay there for a long moment, gasping for air, her heart rapping against her chest like a hammer against an anvil.

Two Marrows just to get here, she thought, patting the pouch. She pushed herself up and brushed the dead needles from her coat. Just ahead, at the edge of the anomaly, stood the destroyed house, a line of destruction leading into a dense section of forest. If the Aberrant Widemaw were still here, it’s likely it retreated somewhere into the underbrush to hide.

Iris inspected the path of destruction where the blackened grass had been upturned and blasted away to expose the hard dirt beneath. A trail of sizzling black liquid led into the brush—blood. The rot of the forest ran deep. Decayed leaves and rotted grass crunched softly underfoot as she traced the trail. The stench of copper grew stronger with every step she took until she found it—a mass of smooth, black tentacles stooped over a large rock. Tens of eyes immediately snapped toward Iris, fixating on her as its body rose. A circular maw lined with daggerlike teeth widened enough to swallow a human with ease.

It was starving.

Iris grabbed a Marrow and crushed it in her palm. Eyes squeezing shut, she lifted both palms and released a massive kinetic blast at the creature. Its tentacles wrapped tightly around the rock as if expecting the attack. The kicked-up dirt and dust didn’t have a chance to settle before it launched its counterattack. Its cylindrical body rose eight feet before collapsing toward her like a felled tree.

It was easy enough to dodge.

She slipped to one side and readied another Marrow. Another blast. This time, the creature had nothing to hold onto. The kinetic force launched the creature backward into a thick pine that splintered on impact, wood debris spraying like shrapnel. The wood sizzled as it melted in contact with the black sludge that poured from open wounds all across the Aberrant’s body.

Footsteps.

Iris caught a glimpse of him through the trees. A man in standard light plate armor, spear in one hand, heavy gold lantern in the other, leapt at the Aberrant Widemaw. He pulled the spear back. Wind formed and sharpened around the edge of the blade as it thrust through the air, piercing the Aberrant before the steel of the blade could touch its flesh. It carved out a deep, bleeding wound. The Aberrant’s heart pulsed.

The open wound, Iris thought. If I could just aim there...

She crushed the Marrow, drew its magic energy into herself, and lifted her palms toward the open wound. Squinting her eyes, she lined up the shot and released a sharp, focused kinetic blast. The bones in her arm seemed to ache under the stress—the sheer, overwhelming force burrowed through the creature, passing through the tree and dissipating into thin air.

It wasn’t enough.

The creature thrashed wildly, flailing its tentacles, flinging acidic blood in every direction. A drop landed on Kael’s face and sizzled. He ignored it, too busy dodging. A stray tentacle caught him in the side and sent him flying, the armor absorbing most of the impact. He slid several feet before coming to a stop. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he breathed heavily.

“Iris!” he yelled. “Got a spare Marrow?”

She didn’t hesitate to reach into her Marrow bag and toss one over. If anyone could be trusted with something she had in such limited stock, it was Kael. He caught it, crushed it, and raised his gold lantern.

He exhaled sharply through the flickering flame, unleashing a massive roaring fireball that engulfed the Aberrant Widemaw’s mucous skin. Its maw widened and a high-pitched hiss pierced the silent night like a howl. It reared back, storing power in its powerful muscles, jaw extending to its maximum extent. It lunged at Kael. Iris crushed another Marrow.

A raw kinetic blast at this range would hit Kael. She didn’t have the time to think. Instinct took over. She didn’t push. She reached out with her mind, hooked an invisible tether to the monster’s jaw, and yanked inward. The Aberrant suddenly found all of its velocity drop to zero as an invisible force pulled it backwards like a fish on a line.

Kael took the brief moment of confusion to slash at the beast with his wind-enhanced spear. The narrow slice of wind carved deep into the creature until it hit something solid—the heart, crystalline and pulsing with a dark red energy.

All of its eyes flicked backwards, toward Iris, as its body turned. It was finally her time to attack. She smashed a Marrow and reached out toward the beast’s heart. With a sharp, powerful pull, the heart came out, wrenching free from the being’s core. The Aberrant Widemaw let out another howl before its mucous exterior dried up and the boney black plates lost their deep black color, turning white like a sun-bleached starfish.

Kael sighed, rubbing his side from where the Aberrant had hit him with a tentacle. Iris let her trembling arms go limp at her sides, bones aching and muscles weakened from her magic. The Marrow pouch lay loose at her side. Empty. The forest was silent, all except for her and Kael’s exhausted breathing.

A woman appeared from behind a thick oak. Blonde locks of hair sticking out from beneath a wide-brimmed hat blew gently in the breeze. The woman’s voice was posh and soft.

“Thanks for doing the hard part for me, doll.”

Two others appeared at her side.